I also had no rudder uphaul, because the previous owner kept the boat on a mooring so I suppose she just took the rudder off. I drilled a hole half way down the rudder, one inch into it and dobbed varnish onto the hole. My downhaul elastic wore through, since when I have made another one with a length of line and narrow (6mm) elastic tied onto it. I made 3 loops in the elastic, with a length of the loops around 3 inches, so it is strong but doesn’t have a big knot, also you can attach one loop quickly and do the others after on launching. These have worked well and haven’t caused problems.